She kept watching over him like a guard dog, oblivious to the time that runs ahead of her slow, lonely world. The sorry news Dr. Odine had said earlier ago echoed in her head, bouncing off against its limits ad nagging at her like a disturbed conscience. There's nothing left to be done, and the fact that she's watching him die hurts so much that walking on fire barefoot is a more preferrable state.

"Don't go.." she whispered as she laid her head on the bed. And for the first time in days, she fell into a deep, restful sleep.

Muffled voices were the only audible sound from that damnable box, she tried to replace the mumbles with words but to no success. What is going on out there? The past few days, there had been nothing but silence. Now, she could hear sounds of human speech, people walking, running, and perhaps some other things thrown here and there. The ground shook for time to time, she could feel it, and it brought panic to her breaking spirit. But death is bliss, she welcomed it with open arms. Someday she and Squall will meet again, and it will be a happily ever after. No more tears. No more deaths. Just happiness. Bliss. Hoping to bring Squall back to life was a mistake, she should stop believing in miracles. After all, she's not a child anymore. Losing people is part of life, even if in her case, it meant losing a part of her as well. Squall is dead. She'll definitely die and rot in this cell. She'll never see her friends again. And they'll forget about her, too, eventually, because death is a fact of life. People die, but only the dumb ones court disasters that lead to their demise. Dumb ones... like me.

"Listen to me", she said hurriedly. "I can bring you back to your time.. but I will have to bring everything back to the way it was. The way it should be."

Squall couldn't decide. He had too much in his head, it felt like he couldn't think about anything any longer.

"Which means you will die."

He looked at the gigantic floating figure of a woman before them, the he fixed his gaze to her small face and maveled at how beautiful she was. A long gown of silk which flows down to ther bare feet, with an undistingushable hue that glows despite the light of day; she had a long silver hair that curls slightly as it reaches down to her hips. He could not believe such a magical creature ever existed, and it was his mother who had control over such powerful summon. His mother! Who would've thought that this unbelievable journey would lead him to her.

"SQUALL! I need you to answer me now!"

Her face was angelic, but her aquamarine eyes mirrored something he wasn't sure about; either she was looking at him with arrogance or disdain. Or was she irritated by his curiosity? "I wish to stay." he told the guardian of time, who frowned and shook her head in such a slow, graceful manner.

"All these years, all I've ever wanted was to have someone, mother." Squall explained, lowering his head to gaze at the gypsy - his mother - beside him. "And now, I have you. I will die anyway, I won't go back. I'd rather die, here."

The gypsy frowned. "You have to return. That is your time. This is ours."

"I am here, now, am I not?"

"You do not belong here. Besides," she squinted at the guardian of time. "Rinoa is running out of time. The great destruction will happen any minute from now, and I have already told you what will happen."

A while ago, when he was very eager to find Rinoa and the gypsy couldn't stop him from doing so, she told him everything he needed to know about this place.. that rebellion is about to take place and the sorcerers of this time, such as herself, are divided into different sides. Havana will sink into the ocean. People will die. Sorceresses will fall. "It was Ultimecia who prevailed." the gypsy told him, "that's why you have to go back and kill her. That is your mission, in your time."

With his mother's brief but clear revelations of what is yet to come, Squall learned of the curse that Raja had bestowed upon him. The scar on his forehead. His untimely death. "It was her curse to kill all that belonged to me..." his mother had said, "and I thought I could change it. I'm still trying to change it until now, but all I could do was prolong your time. I'm so sorry."

He again looked at the guardian before them. To postpone my death, to prolong my time... all within the mercy of the guardian of time. His mother had done her duty. The guardian had fullfilled hers. He must accomplish his.

"Whatever you want." he said to the gypsy.

Rinoa could hear loud blasts from around her. Pieces of concrete showered her face, and thank goodness those were little crumbs coming from the ceiling. She didn't want to be crushed by a huge chunk, she thought jokingly to herself, that would make her appear like a flat corpse. Now that she's going to die, her "last mental will and testament" is to at least leave behind a beautiful corpse.

Another thundering sound. The earth shook. More concrete showers. As the atmosphere cleared, Rinoa looked up and saw that her ceiling was sagging, held intact by a metal strand. Her heart raced as the chunk swung sideways. It swung. Swung. And the metal snapped.

Squall looked at his mother one last time. "I will never forget."

They gypsy gave an affectionate smile as she stared at her son, marveled at his slight resemblance to his father, and memorized every contour of his face.

"It has been nice being with you, son." she felt a painful longing as the fact finally sunk in that she'll never see him again. Years later, she will give birth to such a fine boy. After Havana's nightmare comes to a close, and Waldon wakes from the spell Raja had bestowed upon him... she felt the longing grow stronger and sighed. Destiny had forbidden her to find happiness by taking away her family. And now, it was a mere control over fate that has settled this meeting with her child.

She looked at the guradian of time - her friend and her soldier - as she waved one last time and sent Squall back to his time. The path through time has once again been sealed. Everything will go back to the way it should be. She was left staring into thin air, her eyes were sensitive to the temperature. She was crying.

The guardian of time flew to her side and revealed an open palm before her. A transparent bead appeared in her hand, and as the gypsy lifted her gaze to her, she nodded. That bead was supposed to contain Squall's thoughts from the day Rinoa emerged from another time.

The gypsy's tears flowed endlessly. "Thank you." she whispered.

The guardian did not remove Squall's memories, instead, she gave it to him... as a gift.

Squall felt her presence and stirred.

"Squall?"

"You're still here?"

"You're awake?"

Squall didn't answer. Instead, he stared blankly at the ceiling and whispered, "Some things can never be avoided, huh?"

She sensed the helplessness in his voice. "What do you mean?"

"Naahh." he said. "I love you."

Rinoa cherished the word deep within her heart. "I love you."

Then he laid his hand gently on the small of her back and carried the moment with him, forever. And as he closed his eyes, he thanked the guardian for letting him go back to this moment one last time.

.:EPILOGUE:.

"Wow, this is amazing."

Rinoa, Squall and the rest of the room turned to Dr. Kadowaki as she came in through the doorway. Her light mood and ecstatic tone gave everyone a hint of the good news that is yet to come.

"What?" Zell asked the beaming doctor.

"Squall," she said, deliberately ignoring Zell. "There is something we need to discuss." And with that, Squall got up from the matress and walked toward her. Dr. Kadowaki led Squall out of the Infirmary and left everyone in silence.

"So now we have to guess.." Irvine mumbled.

"It must be a very important matter." Zell answered back. "She only wanted to speak to Squall."

Silence. And as if someone poured cold water over the entire Infirmary room, everyone hurriedly headed for the door, pushing one another in a battle of who-goes-first. Outside, they only found a Dr. Kadowaki trapped in fits of laughter with a smiling Squall right by her side.

"My goodness, Squall, you're alright!" Rinoa screamed.

"I sure am."

She walked over to him and embraced her, not remembering a single thing about the curse, the death, the time travel. Squall whsipered his thanks, not knowing whom to address it to, but certain enough that his mother has something to do with this. Perhaps time had only prolonged his death, who knows? But time has given him this second chance, he dared not waste it. And should he die, he wouldn't worry about being forgotten.. as long as there is time left in this world, there will be memories.

fW Ok, so I guess that's all folks! I've FINALLY finished this fic.. haha, sat down for four hours just to re-acquaint myself with the story and get it over with. I hope you liked the ending. And please visit my website: http/ thanks. ciao.